


The First Time Bucky Was Little

by HeylelAndGoldenWings



Series: The Avenger Babies [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Daddy!Steve, Fluff, He’s just not cut out for this type of thing, Hurt/Comfort, Kinda, Little!Bucky - Freeform, Little!Tony, M/M, Other, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, iz all good in the end though, steve is mia most of the time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 12:42:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14977391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeylelAndGoldenWings/pseuds/HeylelAndGoldenWings
Summary: The first time that Bucky slips into little space, Steve is away. The only thing going for him is the fact that Tony isn’t little, and is willing to play caregiver until Steve gets back.***Please read the notes again y’all.





	The First Time Bucky Was Little

**Author's Note:**

> K, I’ll do Little!Loki sometime soon. But...
> 
> Should I write some Stuckony smut?? And if so,,, what kinks do you guys request? Other than bondage, because I’m a scaredy cat and bondage terrifies me.

_ “Do you even remember them?” _

_ “I remember all of them.” _

  
  
  
  


_ “This isn’t going to change anything.” _

_ “I don’t care. He killed my mom.” _

_ He killed my mom.  _

_ He killed my mom _

  
  


The words echo in Bucky’s head. 

The arc reactor flickers, until it fades, and is now just a dying light. And Bucky knows if it had  _ still been in Tony’s chest, even if it was Steve who did it and not him, Steve was still doing it  _ because  _ of him- Bucky knows that Tony could have (would have) died. And it would have been his fault.  _

He wakes up screaming. He’s sweating, gripping the soaking bed sheets in his hands. He thinks he may have wet the bed.  Tony wakes up with a gruntled noise of 99% confusion and 1% frustration beside him. His hands wander until he finds Bucky’s metal one, and he squeezes gently. “Buck, what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry,” Bucky gasps, and he’s definitely having a panic attack.  It’s good that Tony is here and not Steve, sort of. Tony won’t ask too many questions and he understands panic attacks.  “I’m sorry that I killed them. I’m sorry.” 

“No, no, shh, it wasn’t you, James.  It’s okay, you’re forgiven. Do you want me to call Steve?  I can call him. You’d probably prefer it if he were here, I can leave you alone if you want, that would be fine, it’s whatever.”  And now Tony is panicking, so, so obviously, and Bucky wants to shout because they can’t  _ both  _ be panicking.  Not with Steve gone.  

“Stay,” he whimpers, tugging Tony into a kiss to distract himself.  It works, and he feels Tony relax underneath him. And he feels himself slipping.  He knows this feeling, knows it so well, he’s just good at hiding it, but Tony stares at him, and Bucky knows that he can see right through him.  

Bucky lets out a wrecked sob.  “I want Daddy.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Tony coos, running a hand through Bucky’s hair.  “I’ll call Daddy, how does that sound, hmm? Does that sound okay, little soldier?” The nickname that Bucky usually uses for Tony slips past his tongue before he can stop it.  Bucky doesn’t mind at all. His shoulders sag in defeat, and he leans closer to Tony, enjoying the warmth and safety. 

Tony stands, and Bucky knows he can’t really pick him up because Bucky weighs a fucking ton and Tony is only a human, but he wants Tony to pick him up anyway.   If Steve were here, he’d get what he wanted. But he knows Tony is trying his best, and it isn’t his fault. If he knew what Bucky was thinking he’d probably leave and never return.  Bucky keeps his mouth shut.

“I’m gonna need you to get up, sugar,” Tony tells Bucky gently.  Bucky wants to laugh and cry at the same time. Tony is so far from being caregiver material, he’s a little through and through, but Bucky is grateful for the attempt.  

So Bucky doesn’t argue, and follows Tony without comment.  Tony grabs his phone, dials Steve’s number, and waits. It rings.  And rings. And nobody answers. Steve chose such a shit time to go on a mission.  It was the three-year anniversary of what happened in Siberia. Tony looks like he kind of wants to break down into a sobbing heap, and Bucky  _ really  _ can’t handle that.  He reaches out and takes ahold of Tony’s thumb, pulling it up and to his mouth.  Bucky attaches his lips to it and sucks hesitantly. 

“Alright, Daddy is MIA.  Tony is gonna take care of you.”   Bucky shrugs. He hadn’t expected anything other than that, and he loves Tony a lot- so much, so, so much. But Steve would definitely handle this better. 

“I wan’ teddy bear,” Bucky mumbles around Tony’s finger. “Pwease.”

“So polite,” Tony laughs, and pulls his thumb away. “I’ll get you a paci, too. Come on, baby boy.”

Bucky wobbles to his feet and titter-totters (that’s a word, right?) after Tony. The younger brunette hands Bucky the teddy bear, and then grabs a pacifier from the bedside table and shoves it, not aggressively, into Bucky’s mouth. 

Bucky site cross-legged on the bed, staring at Tony. “I know I’m not a very good caregiver,” Tony begins. “But you’re a very good little.”

Bucky blushes. “Tank you, Tones.” 

“That’s my boy.”  Tony leans over and ruffles Bucky’s hair. Then, a grin crosses his lips. “Hey, can I braid your hair, darling?”

“Yes!” Bucky exclaims, his mellow personality vanishing. He turns around so Tony is facing his bac.  “Yesyesyes!” Bucky doesn’t know why, but he really enjoys people touching his hair. It’s soothing (sometimes sexy, which both Tony and Steve know.  Every. Single. Time. That they have sex, one or both of them makes it their personal duty to tug and yank and pull Bucky’s hair until he’s a squirming, groaning man below them.)

Tony gathers the brown hair in his hands, dividing it into three sections. He begins by crossing them and shit, because that’s how braiding works. (The author has short hair but still knows how to braid hair, back off.)

When Tony is done, Bucky is half-asleep. The paci fell out at some point, and he’s drooling. Tony laughs and wipes away the spit. “Come on, lay down,” he whispers. Bucky does so, and Tony lays beside him, somewhat awkwardly.

When Bucky awakes, Tony is asleep beside him. He doesn’t want to wake Tones up, but there’s somebody banging on the door and Bucky doesn’t really like it. He squirms uncomfortably. “Tony,” he whispers. “Tonyyyy, wake up.”

Tony groans, rolling over. “Wha- Pa- Bucky, what’s up?”

“Somebody at the door.”

Tony sits up, runs a hand over his eyes. “You can stay here if you want.”  Despite being just asleep, he sounds drained. Bucky feels bad. Like, really bad. But he’s scared because somebody is at the door, and if it was Steve, he’d have just walked in. 

Bucky doesn’t want Tony to go alone, though, because if it’s a scary bad guy then Tony might be in trouble. He leaps up and follows him, grabbing his hand and hides slightly behind him as Tony opens the door. 

Turns out it’s just Phil. “Hey,” Tony mumbles sleepily. “We’re doin good. Where’s Clint? Is Clint okay?”

“Clint’s fine. Steve told me that if he wasn’t back by, well, tonight that he wanted me to check up on you two. So here I am.  Why’s Bucky hiding behind you, is he okay?” Phil looked worried. 

“Um, well… Bucky’s little.”

“Oh my,” Phil sighs. “Do you need help, Tony? I’m happy to watch him.”

“No! No. It’s okay. It’s just… I am not cut out to be a caregiver.  I’m not both. Not like Bucky. But I think I can do this until Steve gets back.”

Phil looks suspicious, but nods. “Alright. If you need anything, let me know.”  He turns away, closing the door behind him. 

Tony sighs, walks to the living room, and flops down onto the couch. “C’mon, baby. Come sit on Tony’s lap.”

Bucky looks at him with wide eyes and scampers over to him, climbing up and straddling him. “Tony, when’s Daddy coming back?”

“I don’t know, sugar. But I want Daddy back just as much as you do.”

Bucky closes his eyes and leans forward, burying his face in Tony’s shoulder. 

The door opens. Tony glances up, startled. Buck jumps up, worried that somebody bad is in their home. Maybe he is little, but he still doesn’t want Tony to get hurt. 

Tony let’s out a sob, and Bucky instantly feels bad  _ again _ . “Daddy!” Tony cries, pulling their Daddy into a tight hug. “I tried to be a good boy and take care of Bucky but I’m not a good boy and I didn’t do anything right and I’m sorryyyyyyy!” Tony was practically wailing now, his sobs coming out in hiccupy gasps.  

“Hey, hey, calm down. What do you mean, sweetheart?”

Bucky steps forward. “Daddy,” he murmurs. Steve’s eyes widen in understanding. 

“Oh, my sweet babies. Come on. Daddy will make you some warm milk, and then we can all sit down and relax.  Does that sound nice?”

***

The next morning, Steve sits at the kitchen table, staring over at Tony and Bucky. Bucky is blushing, fidgeting with a scrap of paper. Tony looks scared- not little, but scared. 

“I’m sorry,” Tony apologizes again. “I really tried, but I don’t know how to take care of people, and…”

“It’s okay, honey,” Bucky answers before Steve can. “It was unexpected. I never wanted to tell you guys because.. it’s not something I  _ need  _ like Tony does. I’m really happy to be a caregiver, and I still 100% want to be your Papa, sweetie. But sometimes I just… want a break from everything.”

“Then you can be little sometimes, too. And maybe we can be little together. Wait, Steve, do you need to be little?” Tony asks. 

Steve smiles. “Nah. I’m definitely not a little. But I’m happy to have two little boys.”  He pauses, then laughs a little bit. 

“You guys are something else, and I’d love to chat more, but I’m going to make breakfast, okay? Do either of you want to help?”

Tony leaps up. “Pwease?”  

Bucky laughs, hugging Tony from behind. “Papa wants to help, too.”

God, Steve loves his family. He loves them so fucking much. 

  
  



End file.
